Grain sampler for elevators



July 25, 1961 A. FORD GRAIN SAMPLER FOR ELEvAToRs Filed Jan. l0, 1958 Patented July 25, 1961 United States Patent Oiiee 2,993,380 Y Y GRAIN SAMPLER FR ELEVATORS Albert Ford, 515 Archibald St., St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada Filed Ian. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 708,090 1 Claim. (Cl. 73-421) My invention relates to new and useful improvements in grain samplers for elevators, the principal object and essence of my invention being to provide a grain sampler situated within the side wall of a leg of the elevator and which is adapted to be inserted within the leg to catch and extract a sample of grain from the grain being elevated thereby.

In the art of grain handling, it is often necessary to obtain a sample of the grain whether the grain is being loaded into cars, or moving grain from bin to bin, and it is essential for the purposes of accuracy, that a representative sample be taken from the bul-k being moved. At the present time grain has to be sampled `from the bin or car, and if the shipment consists of grain from different suppliers or different bins, it is extremely difficult to get a representative sample from the entire shipment.

By providing a trough in the side wall of the leg of an elevator, which is insertable or withdrawable from the interior of the leg and by providing a small aperture in the corner of occasional cups on the elevator itself, it is possible to obtain a representative sample every 2O or 25 bushels thus ensuring a representative sample from the entire load being moved.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described, in which the trough can be withdrawn and the aperture closed off by the rear wall of the trough thus maintaining a smooth inside surface within the elevator leg.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is extremely simple in construction and which can be installed in existing elevator legs with a minimum of time and trouble.

With the foregoing objects in view, and such other objects and advantages as will become yapparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, my invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts Iall as hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the :accompanying Adrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of my device in situ.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of FIGURE 1.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

Proceeding therefore to describe my invention in detail, reference should be made to the accompanying drawing in which the reference character 1 represents a side wall of an elevator leg within which is situated the vertically moving elevator belt 2, carrying a plurality of grain cups or scoops 3, secured thereto in the conventional manner.

These cups or scoops 3 are conventional in construction, but in order to provide a quantity of grain for sampling purposes, I provide a small cut-out 4 on one `rear corner of the scoop 3 and this cut-out is repeated every 75 or 80 cups upon the belt so that a representative sample can be obtained, for example, from every 20 or 25 bushels elevated by the elevator leg.

The wall 1 of the leg is -apertured as at 3; said aperture being substantially rectangula-r in configuration and the side edges of this aperture are lined with a metal sheet d; which is flanged outwardly to form the surrounding shroud 5, by which the device is secured to the outer surface 6 of the wall by means of screws 7. It will be observed that the lower edge 8 of the apertu-re slopes downwardly and outwardly and supports a metal chute 9, comprising a base 10 and side walls 11.

A trough collectively designated 12 is provided, consisting of a base 13, a rear wall 14, and side plates 15, and this trough is pivotally secured on the lower edge 8 of the aperture 3 and adjacent the inner side wall 9 thereof, Iby, means of a pivot hinge 16 which is secured to the trough adjacent the junction between the base 13 and the rear wall or plate 14.

The aforementioned rear wall 14 extends upwardly beyond the side walls 15 to form the flange 17 and this flange engages against the inner lface 9 of the wall at the upper side of the aperture as clearly shown in FIGURE 1 thus presenting, when the device is closed, a smooth interior surface to the leg 1 of the elevator.

A strip 18 is secured to one side wall 11 of the chute and extends upwardly therefrom, said strip being angulated at the upper end thereof, to form a pair of spaced and parallel members 19 and 20, between which passes an operating lever 21. This operating lever is connected by the inner end 22 thereof, to adjacent the upper edge of one of the side walls 13 of the trough, by means of pivot pin 23 and a clamping bolt assembly 24 spans the members 19 and 20 below the operating lever 2.1 so that the operating lever can be clamped into the desired position.

A shroud 25 is provided with a turned ange 26 at the upper edge thereof, said ilange engaging over the upper flange 5 of the exterior casing, the main portion 27 of the flange extending downwardly and outwardly to overlie the chute and to partially enclose the open end of the trough 12.

In operation, the bolt Z4 is loosened thus permitting the operating lever 21 to be pushed inwardly in the direction of arrow 2.8, thus extending the rear panel of the trough Within the elevator leg. A small quantity of grain spills from the apertured corner 4 of the scoops provided with such apertures, and this small stream of grain is caught by the trough.

When a sufficient sample has been collected, the operating lever 21 is moved in a direction opposite arrow 2S thus closing olf the trough and presenting a smooth surface of the interior of the leg. The grain caught by the trough is deposited upon the chute 9 by this action whereupon it may be collected in a convenient container below the chute (not illustrated). Finally, it will be appreciated that at least the rear panel 14 of the trough is purposely made of aluminum in order to avoid the danger of sparks occurring should the belt 2 swing over and stri-ke the sampler.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely diferent -embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claim without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the `accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

A grain sampler for elevators adapted to be positioned in the side wall of a grain elevator leg enclosing an endless belt with buckets for lifting grain, at least one of said buckets being provided with a hole for dribbing grain past the sampler, comprising in combination with said one bucket a trough pivotally secured Within the associated side wall of the grain elevator leg, adjustable means to insert and withdraw said trough into the interior of said leg, a chute positioned in the wall of said leg to receive grain passing through said trough, a deilector plate secured to said wall and overlying said chute, said trough including a rear side, a base and a pair of side plates, said rear side inclining at an angle from said base and acting as a grain sample collector when said trough is in the grain sampling position, and lying ilush with the inner wall of said leg when said trough is in the closed position,

3 4- said trough being pivoted to the lower edge of an opening References Cited in the le of this patent in said wall adjacent the junction between said base and UNITED STATES PATENTS said rear side, said adjustable means including a vertical strip secured to said chute and extending upwardly there- 758,265 Maffll APIK 26, 1904 from, said stripbeing counter angulated at the upper end 5 884,660 HOOVSI' Apr. 14, 1908 thereof, thereby forming a pair of spaced and parallel 2,404,373 Harlow July 23, 1946 members, an operating `lever pivotally secured to said 2,726,072 Heaume Dec. 6, 1955 trough and passing through said spaced and parallel members, and clamp means spanning said members for selec- FOREIGN PATENTS tively clamping said operating lever between said mem- 10 707,875 Great Britain Apr. 28, 1954 bers. 

